Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless networks, and more specifically to minimizing data loss when a wireless device operates in dual-mode as an access point and a wireless station.
Related Art
A wireless device refers to a device which communicates with other devices/systems over a wireless medium as a part of a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network). As is well known, WLANs are typically implemented with wireless devices having transmission range of the order of a few tens of meters and are implemented to operate according to various standards. A common example of a communication standard is defined by IEEE 802.11 specifications.
An access point (AP) refers to a switching device of a WLAN, which receives packets from a wireless station and forwards the packet to, or towards, a target device. A wireless station (STA) on the other hand is the source or destination/target in the wireless network (e.g., WLAN as noted above) of such packets. The target device is often another STA in the same wireless network, though it can be a device connected through the Internet via the AP.
In a typical implementation, the AP and the STA are separate devices in the wireless network. However, the AP and the STA may also be implemented in a single device, referred to as a dual-mode device. The dual-mode device supports the execution of the AP and the STA as two different modes in respective WLANs, within the single wireless device.
Such dual-mode of operation may be based on time division multiplexing (TDM), with the AP and STA being operated to transmit in, and receive from, either a same channel or separate channels, in alternate non-overlapping intervals (with each interval being marked by a start and end boundaries), as is well known in the relevant arts. Typically, the STA of a dual-mode device operates as part of one basic service set (BSS/WLAN), while the AP of the dual-mode device operates as part of another BSS in corresponding time durations.
In general, such wireless devices operating in dual-mode need to be implemented to meet various requirements such as desired throughput performance, reduced data loss, etc. Aspects of the present disclosure address one or more of such requirements.
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